The UVM Women's Basketball team won the America East Tournament at Patrick Gym on Saturday by beating a very good Maine team by a convincing 27 points earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament.

UVM came out firing on all cylinders at the start of all three tournament games leaving first Drexel, then Northeastern, and finally Maine all wondering what hit them. In the Maine game, senior guard Christie Lauzon hit 4 of 4 3-point shots in the first 3 minutes of play giving Vermont a 15-5 lead. The Cats then turned their attention to shutting down the opponents offense. Maine's star player, Jamie Cassidy, was allowed only 4 points in the first half.

Libby Smith saved her best play for the time when it counted the most. She averaged 11 points and 7.3 rebounds over the three tournament games more than doubling her regular season averages. This combined with her hustle and tenacious defense (usually guarding one of the opposition's star players) earned Libby a spot on the all- tournament team along with Karalyn Church and Christie Lauzon. The TV broadcast announcers referred to Libby as the "heart and soul" of the Vermont team. This photo shows a little of Libby's intensity which makes her such a tough competitor on the basketball court as well as on the golf course.

The team now heads for the Mid-East Regionals of the NCAA tournament with an 11 seed against 6 seeded Tulane. The game is next Saturay, March 18 in Lubbock, Texas. Unfortunately, that game is not one currently scheduled to be aired on ESPN or ESPN2. UVM finds themselves in the same bracket as the powerful University of Tennessee and Boston College who is coached by former UVM coach Cathy Inglese. Maine, surprisingly, received an at-large bid and will play in the West Regional.

You can follow UVM's progress on the official Web site for NCAA basketball at www.finalfour.com.